‘Tis the season, once again, for end-of-year roundups and the ever-lovable event roundup, and you know that we’ve got one for you hear for all the holiday events happening across the MMORPG landscape this year. After all, is it really a holiday if you don’t log into a video game to smack things with a candy-cane themed sword that still does as much damage as a normal sword without candy-cane stripes? No. I don’t think it is.
But you don’t have to take my word for it; you can take the rest of the industry’s word for it because all of those words are tucked just below here for everyone to peruse. So check out all of the stuff that’s going down this December in our roundup just below, whether it’s in your favorite game or one you just log into because you dearly need its infusion of candy cane decorations.
Aion Retail and Aion Classic kick off a truckload of winter holiday events for NA and EU players - The Christmas festivities have arrived like an absolute avalanche to Aion, so regardless of which region or server type you're on, there are a whole bunch of events happening across…
ARK Survival Ascended begins the Turkey Trial event and readies a Survival of the Fittest PC public test - Who says you can't enjoy a little Thanksgiving event in the Christmas season? Besides, roasted turkey is a perfectly cromulent holiday dish. However, the turkeys may be the ones to…
ARK Survival Ascended brings back the Winter Wonderland holiday event and Survival of the Fittest mode - ARK: Survival Ascended has brought back things that regular players of the dino survival sandbox are likely familiar with, but this time they're in Unreal Engine 5. The game's Christmas-themed…
Astroneer brings back Project C.H.E.E.R. for Christmas, promises new roadmap in 2024 - It's been a weird year for Astroneer, but the latest update to the game contains some good news for the studio and the game's future as System Era joins forces…
Champions Online and Neverwinter kick off winter holiday celebrations - Cryptic's MMOs are getting into the holiday spirit this month. Neverwinter celebrated the return of its Winter Festival of Simril, allowing players to venture once more into the village of…
Dark Age of Camelot introduces new and returning seasonal tasks in its Midwinter Festival - What could possibly be more festive than... uh... slaying a big old ice demon? That's one of the seasonal tasks that are on offer during the ongoing Midwinter Festival in…
Destiny 2 celebrates the holiday season with the return of the Dawning event - Bungie is hoping that the dire state of its studio won't stop Destiny 2 players from enjoying (and probably buying) some holiday cheer as this week has brought the Dawning…
Diablo IV and Diablo II Resurrected dish out new and returning holiday events, respectively - Just because you're slaughtering the legions of Hell doesn't mean you can't celebrate the holiday season... by slaughtering more of the legions of Hell. Thus begins the Christmas-adjacent events that…
Diablo IV previews its upcoming Midwinter Blight event in new video - How exactly is the festive season going to look in the blood-drenched OARPG Diablo IV? You can probably guess that there will be some white snow to mix in with…
Dungeons and Dragons Online cranks out two updates, Festivault, and a hardcore server in seven days - Dungeons and Dragons Online is trying to break some kind of MMO record for cramming the most amount of stuff in a seven-day period. The starting pistol for this happened…
Elder Scrolls Online’s New Life festival returns for the holidays on December 21 - Elder Scrolls Online is making y'all wait for your Christmas event this year: the New Life festival is finally launching on December 21st.[AL:ESO] "The 2023 New Life Festival in-game event…
EVE Online’s winter holiday events return next week with ‘glamorous gifts, games, and glory’ - You might not look to the likes of EVE Online for your dose of Christmas spirit, but CCP Games would like to change that - and given the game's recent…
Final Fantasy XI’s holiday Starlight Celebration runs December 15-31 - The time has come once again for Final Fantasy XI's adventurers to celebrate the Starlight season from December 15th through December 31st, and as usual, it involves a bunch of…
Final Fantasy XIV prepares another Starlight holiday event December 15 and shares dev anniversary messages - The holiday season - and arguably one of the greatest pieces of Christmas event music ever composed - is making its return to Final Fantasy XIV once again on Friday,…
Guild Wars 2’s Wintersday lights up Divinity’s Reach through January 2 - "Happy Kryptis to all, and to all a good night!" ArenaNet declared while opening the Guild Wars 2 Wintersday events as of this afternoon and turning on the Christmas sparklies.[AL:GW2]…
Lord of the Rings Online apparently once considered non-combat classes - With Christmas and New Years looming in the near future, Standing Stone Games is getting ready to send its devs on a well-deserved holiday break for a couple of weeks.…
Lord of the Rings Online’s Yuletide Festival is live - Yesterday was Halloween, today is Christmas. That's how it feels like, at least, and Lord of the Rings Online is doing nothing to dissuade us of a rapidly passing holiday…
Lost Ark’s Voldis continent and winter holiday events are live in today’s patch - Amazon's going two for two on the holiday events in its MMOs today - first for New World, and now for Lost Ark, where the Voldis Wonderland update is officially…
MapleStory introduces abyssal expeditions, new bosses, and the return of the Maplemas holiday - It's time for a holly jolly Maplemas in MapleStory, the side-scrolling MMO that likes to use the word "maple" as a prefix! Whatever you call it, the Christmas event that…
MechWarrior Online Legends adds two more legendary mechs and offers two free chassis in December event - Last week was another patch week for the team vs. team 'Mech battler MechWarrior Online Legends, which brought along with it another pair of chassis that appear to be as…
Mortal Online 2’s Krampos has turned up to dole out free raffle bags - They say that the holiday season is a perfect time for a truce between former enemies, and if anything's going to bring the bloodthirsty warriors of Mortal Online 2 together,…
Neverwinter and Champions Online dole out a wintry bounty for the holidays - Fans of Cryptic's MMOs might want to take a holiday in those realms so that they can enjoy some of the extra bounties that are happening this month. Champions Online…
New World announces holiday event kickoff December 12, talks performance and bugs in latest video - Christmas returns to New World next week - or rather I should say, the Winter Convergence Festival: "Holiday cheer spreads across Aeternum once more as Winter Convergence blankets the Eternal…
New World’s Eternal Frost is finally live as Amazon’s Scot Lane becomes a storytelling puppet for Christmas - New World's Eternal Frost update is finally here after a bit of a nailbiter wait. Readers will recall that on Monday, Amazon announced that the patch wouldn't make its Tuesday…
Old School RuneScape invites players to a frosty piece of Lumbridge in its Christmas event - The normally temperate location of Lumbridge is experiencing a bit of localized snowy weather, which can only mean one thing: It's Christmastime in Old School RuneScape as the sandbox MMORPG…
Overwatch 2’s Winter Wonderland returns today with holiday content and rewards - Just because Overwatch 2 brings out the competitive spirit in everyone doesn't mean that those same players can't take a day or two to chillax in a Christmas-themed Winter Wonderland.…
Palia brings the holiday cheer with its the next leg of its winter update - On the cusp of its Nintendo Switch release, Palia is packing in the holiday cheer. The life sim MMO released its winter update this year with plenty of seasonal fun…
Palia’s Winterlights festival – the first part of it, anyway – is live alongside new Asia-Pacific servers - As promised, yesterday's Palia update launched Christmas for players in the cozy sandbox pseudo-MMO. "You are just in time for the special Winterlights celebration taking place in Kilima Village!" Singularity…
Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis’ December 6 update focuses on powering up characters faster - If you've felt daunted by the prospect of climbing the character and item levels needed to get to some of the juicy new stuff waiting in Phantasy Star Online 2:…
RIFT welcomes back Fae Yule for another blast of holiday cheer - It was all the way back in 2011 when then-fledgling RIFT debuted its Fae Yule holiday event. Ever since then, the MMO has faithfully brought this celebration back every year…
Runes of Magic promises presents from Santa Claus and fun in the snow in its series of holiday events - There are a few things that MMORPG players likely expect from their Christmas-themed events, like snow, presents, and perhaps a visit from Santa Claus in some form or another. Luckily…
RuneScape adds a new boss fight November 20, Old School RuneScape confirms Leagues IV for November 15 - I'm now convinced that dragons are made of cat software installed into reptilian hardware; they would much rather sleep for long periods of time, and when they awaken they get…
RuneScape kicks off the Christmas season with a new yuletide village - You know those people who are already decorating for Christmas even as there is leftover turkey from Thanksgiving sitting on the counter? That's totally RuneScape, which may be one of…
RuneScape previews its Christmas Village with a new black party hat - Do you want to experience the winter holiday in RuneScape? The developers are certainly hoping you do, or even if you don't that you will be enticed by this year's…
Sea of Thieves talks Safer Seas launch date, holiday login goodies, and player cheese in latest video digest - The regular video newsletters out of Sea of Thieves have yet another addition, and like usual it gathers together some of the upcoming affairs for the next few weeks and…
Shroud of the Avatar prepares to celebrate 10 years of monthly updates in December - It's been almost 10 years since Shroud of the Avatar started making monthly updates - since December 2013 by Catnip Games' reckoning, which is when the Chicken Room first became…
Star Wars Galaxies Legends is launching a brand-new Wookiee treehouse for Life Day - When we were discussing our Best MMO Housing award last week, I joked to our team that I knew about an amazing housing addition being made in the genre this…
Star Wars Galaxies’ SWGEmu kicks off classic Wookiee Life Day for the holiday season - The nice thing about the Star Wars Galaxies rogue server community is that there's a server out there with nearly every era of the game - and some that never…
Temtem’s holiday event brings joy, cheer, and a lot of footwork - Have you been a good little Temtem this year? Hm... that isn't an overwhelming "yes" there. Maybe you need to put in a bit of effort to earn some presents…
The Stream Team: Celebrating ugly Christmas SWTORs - [AL:TOR]What makes the holiday season special? Ugly Christmas sweaters of course! Or, in this case, SWTORs! And with SWTOR's 12th anniversary this week, it's like a double dose of celebrating…
The Stream Team: Wanting that Wintersday birb plushie in Guild Wars 2 - [AL:GW2]How do you make Massively OP's MJ love a holiday event even more? You make adorable plushies available! And Guild Wars 2 just made Wintersday even more appealing by adding…
Tower of Fantasy readies a new content update December 21 and an Evangelion crossover in 2024 - Next week will see more more arrive to the shared world RPG of Tower of Fantasy, as the Electrifying Winter Rhapsody update will arrive on Thursday, December 21st, with a…
Trove’s Snowfest returns through Christmas as consoles finally get the fall PC patches - Gamigo's rolling out the snow carpet for blocky sandbox Trove this week as Snowfest has returned to all three platforms as of today through Christmas day. No, we don't know…
Ultima Online preps Christmas and nerfs your old too-long character names - How angry would you be if you logged into your favorite old MMORPG account and found that your name, which you'd used for over two decades, had been changed to…
Valve issues gift-wrapped permabans to Dota 2 cheaters and smurfs this holiday season - The holiday season has arrived to the MOBA world of Dota 2, bringing gifts to all of its players. However, certain players who have been found cheating or smurfing (in…
Villagers & Heroes posts patch notes for the Grinchta’s Lair update while its launch is delayed by certification - The release timing for the latest content drop from Villagers & Heroes has run into a bit of a SNAFU. According to a quick video update from Mad Otter Games'…
VR MMO Ilysia merges servers and has players save the holidays from the Evil Gromch - While the Christmas season has passed us by on the calendar, the holidays are still rolling on in MMO lands including the VR world of Ilysia, which has engaged a…
Warcraft Rumble brings a new troop, new PvP map, and a wintertime gift in its second season - Warcraft Rumble, Blizzard's recently released mobile multiplayer game that we found to be "slick but shambolic," has moved on to its second season this week, bringing with it a new…
Wayfinder has stealth-launched a gigantic patch ahead of its winter holiday event Friday - Fancy a bit o' Christmas in Airship Syndicate's Wayfinder? Good because it's happening Friday. In fact, there's a little preview open already, as last night, the studio - touting its…
Wayfinder’s Eventide holiday events are live alongside Senja rework and awakening system - Eventide is officially upon us in Wayfinder - the tweaked version, that is. As we wrote last week, Airship Syndicate soft-launched part of the holiday patch to allow hardcore players…
World of Tanks adds random events mode, enlists actor Vinnie Jones for holiday events - What do the Christmas season and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels star Vinnie Jones have in common? They're coming together in War Thunder to herald the start of Holiday…
World of Warcraft and WoW Classic welcome Winter Veil ’23 - After a long year, it's time to tuck into a good feast. World of Warcraft's many versions offer a sumptuous spread with the Feast of Winter Veil, which is now…
Wurm Online’s Christmas event offers goats, elves, and bonuses - Hey, who's that peeking sheepishly into the window of Wurm Online? Why, it's Santa himself, trying to wrap up the season with the help of some eager players. Wurm Online's…
And that’s all the events occurring this holiday – nah, I’m just kidding, there’s more! Some events didn’t get a full news post to themselves:
- The Star Wars Galaxies rogue server Empire in Flames brings you Boonta Eve.
- Fiesta Online brings back Blizzard’s Frosty Ride for the holiday.
- Harry Potter Magic Awakened has a new seasonal event going, with wreaths as currency.
- AdventureQuest 3D fires up some Frostval Magic for all.
- Winterfest is back for Fortnite.
- There’s a whole holiday heist in store for Hawked.
- Party Animals has some holiday-themed skins in its store.
- Identity V is an asymmetrical mobile game that has a new holiday competition, Letter on a Snowy Winter Night.
- A whole holiday countdown is available for Elite Dangerous fans.
- Sea of Thieves once again brings Gifts & Glory.
- Dragon and Home? More like Winter and Festival… wait, that makes no sense. But there is a Winter Festival.
- Infinite Lagrange has begun its Twin Festival, “bringing explorers all over the galaxy together for an epic party.”
- World of Tanks and (for some reason) Vinnie Jones put a tank under the tree for ya.
- ARK’s Winter Wonderland makes its return on December 21st, with RaptorClaus on his sleigh (yes) and rate boosts.
- Dual Universe is doubling talent point gen through January 3rd.
- And Monster Hunter Now is introducing a special five-star Zinogre to hunt during its holiday event, even though it’s normally only six stars and above. Hooray, more Zinogre!
But that’s not all! We’ve also been shoving as much MMO-related holiday goodness at you as we conceivably can from our streams and podcasts. It’s so much holiday cheer it can actually be overwhelming, but we’re packing it in here just the same. Come on, get in there, don’t worry about tearing the wrapping paper.
Jukebox Heroes: A yuletide soundtrack for a gaming holiday - The winter night hushed to a halt to allow the wind to whisper. "Take heart, my friends," she crooned over snow-capped hills and frozen lakes. "For just when everything has…
Massively OP Podcast Episode 449: We didn’t start the Light No Fire - Justin and Bree discuss MMO holiday events, Light No Fire, The Day Before, and EverQuest, with adventures in LOTRO, SWTOR, WoW Classic, and Project Gorgon, plus mailbag topics on holiday…
MMORPG and multiplayer seasonal sales on Steam and beyond, winter 2023 edition - It's that time of year again: the time when we trek over to Steam with our wallets open to see what kind of damage we can do. Oh, and it's…
The Stream Team: A very merry Christmas with AdventureQuest 3D - When Massively OP's MJ thinks of spending the holidays with family and friends, she also thinks of you! So she'll be jumping into AQ3D to hang out and celebrate Christmas…
The Stream Team: Astroneer’s Project C.H.E.E.R. to end the year - For her last stream of the 2023 year, Massively OP's MJ plans to go out with a bang! She will participate in some Astroneer Project C.H.E.E.R. as it's always fun…
The Stream Team: Chilling in Neverwinter’s holiday village for Winter Solstice - [AL:NW]When it's winter and you don't feel like beating your head against Neverwinter's gear score wall, you can relax with some holiday fun in the winter event village of Twilight…
The Stream Team: Enjoying another Starlight holiday in Final Fantasy XIV - The Starlight season has once more descended on Final Fantasy XIV, which means that this Eorzea Sunday is all about the Christmas good cheer! MOP's Chris and his husband are…
The Stream Team: Enjoying some festive spirit and games with a friend in Tower Unite - MOP's Chris has decided to set aside a little bit of time to check out the seasonal affairs happening in Tower Unite, but he's not doing it alone; he'll be…
The Stream Team: EverQuest II’s Scary Little Frostfell - I'm dreaming of a new Frostfell quest, Unlike the ones I used to know. With brand new story, and maybe it's gory, with new loot, all bundled up to show.…
The Stream Team: Holiday PvP with Party Animals - 'Tis the season of celebration and gatherings. You could even say, people become party animals. So what better combines with this spirit of the season than some PvP* (plushie vs.…
The Stream Team: More mount raising in Guild Wars 2 - [AL:GW2]Even Guild Wars 2's Wintersday can't keep Massively OP's MJ from pursuing her new mounts! Currently she's raising a turtle as well as trying to hatch a skyscale egg. With…
The Stream Team: The first AQ3D Frostval with EggMog - It is December, so that means Massively OP's MJ is free to start celebrating all things Christmas and all assorted winter holidays throughout the MMOverse. And for AQ3D, that's Frostval!…
The Stream Team: Walkin’ in Q’s Winter Wonderland in Star Trek Online - Chris is full of the holiday spirit in Star Trek Online! Or at least he's full of determination to unlock a shiny new spaceship, but mostly he's up for a…
Video game trade association says most people want video games for Christmas, huh - When I asked my kids to write me out their Christmas wish lists this year, they both turned in lists with games and game currency on them. My daughter handed…
Any more holiday fun you’d like to highlight? Don’t be shy – the comments are down there to share and enlighten!
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